Crisis Rocks CRFFN

The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarders in Nigeria, CRFFN, established by an Act of parliament as a beacon of hope for freight forwarders in the country, is currently being rocked by crisis.

The crisis was sparked off by three top members of the council, Messrs  Sam Oyemelukwe, the vice-chairman of the council; Peter Obi, the chairman of Registration Committee and Teddy Ifezue, the chairman of Transport Committee,  who were suspended for allegedly engaging in activities inimical to the progress of the body.

The affected members are said to be aggrieved by the accreditation of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF) as a member of the Council.

Obi alleged that his committee was not carried along in the peace process that led to the admission of NAGAFF, while he also kicked against the dissolution of his committee.

Consequently, Obi was said to have engaged in a legal and press war in which he allegedly renounced the decisions of the Council to dissolve his committee and criticised what he described as the controversial accreditation of NAGAFF, referring to it as null and void.

According to Obi, he reported the matter to International Freight Forwarders Association (IFFA) which he claimed was his constituency which thereafter forwarded a strongly-worded petition to the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (FIATA), to which the Council is an affiliate.

The petition was said to have led to the international body cancelling all engagements with the body, especially the Train-the- Trainers course which FIATA was to hold with the Council in Nigeria.

The workshop, which was to hold between 9 and 14 September,  2011, was consequently aborted while the attendance of FIATA president and his officials at the national conference of the Council slated for next month is no longer certain as the international body has banned all its officials  from travelling to Nigeria as a result of the petition.